Michigan Tech College of Business Newsblog

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It’s on to Nationals for MTU DECA

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DECA students standing in a group with their advisor to the left
Left to right: Jenny Apriesnig (faculty advisor), Zach Hooper, Sammy Perrone, Ethan Semenchuk, Jaylen Body, Lexi Dembrowski, Madelyn Carey

Back from the Michigan Collegiate DECA Career Development Conference in Kalamazoo, Michigan, the business Huskies of Michigan Technological University made a strong first appearance, participating in and winning competitions while earning a spot to nationals.

Student competitors included:

  • Jaylen Body (management)—first place, hotel and lodging
  • Sammy Perrone (marketing)—first place, fashion merchandising and marketing 
  • Lexi Dembrowski (accounting with data analytics)—first place, financial accounting 
  • Ethan Semenchuk (engineering management)—third place, corporate finance
  • Madelyn Carey (accounting and finance)—third place, financial accounting 
  • Zach Hooper (management information systems)—third place, entrepreneurship operations
  • Lexi Dembrowski and Madelyn Carey—second place, event planning 
Students standing in a group with DECA plaques

Their successful showing qualifies the team for the national competition in April at the International Career Development Conference in Baltimore, Maryland.

In addition to the competitions, students contributed to roundtable discussions where they chose from topics including: Global citizen strategy, career tips and tricks, nonverbal communication, and conflict resolution.

The conference was attended in person by Collegiate DECA groups from Cleary University, Davenport University, Michigan State University, and the University of Michigan. Eastern Michigan University, Kettering University, and Northwood University competed virtually.

Between functions, the Huskies explored downtown Kalamazoo and visited with downstate-based parents (and enjoyed home-baked cookies!). Other social highlights included singing carpool karaoke and navigating fresh snow to the Mackinac Bridge.

It was a fun and successful trip!

Jenny Apriesnig, assistant professor of economics and DECA advisor

To support Michigan Tech DECA’s goals and travels, connect with Advisor Jenny Apriesnig. Follow the group on Instagram @mtu_deca.

About the College of Business

The Michigan Tech College of Business offers undergraduate majors in accounting, construction management, economics, engineering management, finance, management, management information systems, and marketing, as well as a general business option. Graduate degrees include the TechMBA®, a Master of Engineering Management, a Master of Science in Accounting, and a Master of Science in Applied Natural Resource Economics.

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Scholarship Spotlight: Stephenson National Bank and Trust Annual Scholarship Award

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The Michigan Tech College of Business boasts more than 50 donor- and industry-sponsored scholarships reserved exclusively for new and returning business students. These awards are offered in addition to competitive, merit-, and need-based aid. For 2020-21, total scholarships and grants awarded to undergraduate students in the College of Business exceeded $4.6 million.

This month we highlight the Stephenson National Bank and Trust Annual Scholarship Award.

The Stephenson National Bank and Trust Annual Scholarship Award, valued at $2,000, is available to incoming first-year Michigan Tech College of Business students majoring in finance who have earned a minimum GPA of 3.0. Additional criteria include being a US citizen and having graduated from one of the following high schools of the Upper Peninsula or northeastern Wisconsin: Oconto, Marinette, Delta, Baraga, Houghton, Marquette, or Menominee.

Mike Kolasa

In this Q&A, we hear from Mike Kolasa, vice president and trust officer for the Marquette, Michigan, office of Stephenson National Bank and Trust, headquartered in Marinette, Wisconsin. Kolasa is also an instructor of personal finance planning in the College of Business.  

Q: How did the Stephenson National Bank and Trust (SNBT) Annual Scholarship Award come to be?

SNBT has several core values, one of which is supporting communities and institutions where we do business, including the Copper Country. We also believe in a strong work ethic, self-responsibility, and entrepreneurship. The College of Business is a natural fit for us to support, as we have overlapping geography and values.

Q: Why is supporting students through college scholarships important to Stephenson National Bank and Trust?

I wasn’t poor growing up, but we could see it from the back porch. Scholarships made a big difference for me. We want to encourage successful students who might not otherwise pursue business degrees. Besides, we want to hire some of the best students that I teach!

Q: By day you work in the financial services industry, and by night you teach the foundation of finance to the next generation of advisors. How does your work influence your teaching?

In my experience, academic texts are valid, but can be esoteric, and students may not learn as effectively. By mixing in stories from the industry, students can attach their new knowledge to applied and practical situations. As a result, I believe they retain that knowledge and have an advantage when embarking on their careers.

I tell my students they can be in the top 10 percent of their field, or the bottom 90 percent. Getting into the top bracket takes deliberate effort, but the rewards that go with it are theirs for the shaping.

I tell my students they can be in the top 10 percent of their field, or the bottom 90 percent.

Mike Kolasa, instructor, Michigan Tech College of Business


Q: The College of Business prides itself on preparing students for the technology needs of business. How is technology disrupting the world of finance?

Technology can be both wonderful and evil. It certainly lends itself to efficiency, but we need to remember we buy technology to serve us, not the other way around. I see too many advisors using technology as a crutch or substitute for old-fashioned common sense and in-person time with clients.

We need to remember we buy technology to serve us, not the other way around.

Mike Kolasa, instructor, Michigan Tech College of Business


Q: What are key takeaways college students should consider regarding their own personal finance?

Students and new graduates should consider their own finances first. Utilizing a budget and spending less than they make is a solid lifestyle that will give them flexibility in their future. It also sets them up as credible advisors; if you’re not practicing the basics yourself, no one is going to respect your advice. Beyond that, continuing education, which can look like advanced degrees, new professional designations, or simply reading a few business books a year, is a must. My goal is to have our students be in the top tier of whatever career they pursue, and staying fresh with knowledge is critical.

Prospective students who qualify for the Stephenson National Bank and Trust Annual Scholarship Award should connect with Shannon Rinkinen, director of outreach for the Michigan Tech College of Business, at smrinkin@mtu.edu.

About the College of Business

The Michigan Tech College of Business offers undergraduate majors in accounting, construction management, economics, engineering management, finance, management, management information systems, and marketing, as well as a general business option. Graduate degrees include the TechMBA®, a Master of Engineering Management, a Master of Science in Accounting, and a Master of Science in Applied Natural Resource Economics.

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Marketing Internship Success Story

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Jaxon Verhoff

Third-year Michigan Tech marketing student Jaxon Verhoff has received four internship offers from industry-leading companies—General Motors, Kimberly Clark, Caterpillar, and Dow Chemical. 

“My offers are due in large part to the opportunities the College of Business has made available to me,” Verhoff says. Some of the most valuable career-shaping experience, he says, has been interacting with alumni, student organization activities and competitions, projects, and technology incorporation into curriculum.

While all four companies would offer valuable marketing internship experience, Verhoff settled on Dow Chemical, where he’ll serve as a digital marketing analyst intern, because of its proximity to his hometown of Appleton, Wisconsin. His top internship goal? Soaking in all that working at a large company has to offer.

“I am going to have the opportunity to meet and interact with many people company-wide, so I will be asking questions and learning from professionals.”

Jaxon Verhoff, Michigan Tech marketing student

In addition, Verhoff will have his hand in projects, getting to apply and build upon classroom knowledge.

Verhoff participated in Michigan Tech’s Career Fairs to gain the internship opportunities. In fall 2020, he met virtually with as many companies as possible to get his name out there. By fall of this year, he met again with some of the same recruiters who remembered him and were able to track his personal and professional growth.

“Jaxon has followed our success formula. He has continued to apply for an internship until he gets it.”

Junhong “Jun” Min, Michigan Tech professor of marketing
Jaxon, second from top left, chilling post-class with his broomball team

Long term, Verhoff is after a sense of career fulfillment. The people he surrounds himself with, the company culture he immerses himself in, and the projects he leads, he says, all lend themselves toward the feeling of making a difference, making an impact—that he’s ultimately looking to achieve. “Success and a great salary are important, but feeling fulfilled is what’s most important to me,” he adds.

Before he heads off to Dow, Verhoff, who is a senior residential assistant, is eager to continue working toward goals as president of the American Marketing Association group on campus. “We are developing meaningful connections with industry professionals, faculty, and students, while deepening our digital marketing skills through data analysis, case studies, and competitions.”

About the College of Business

The Michigan Tech College of Business offers undergraduate majors in accounting, construction management, economics, engineering management, finance, management, management information systems, and marketing, as well as a general business option. Graduate degrees include the TechMBA®, a Master of Engineering Management, a Master of Science in Accounting, and a Master of Science in Applied Natural Resource Economics.

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MTU Business Student is No. 1 Army ROTC Cadet in US

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Michigan Tech Army ROTC
It’s mission complete for the Ranger Challenge Teams of the Michigan Tech 1st Arctic Warriors Battalion

Caleb Grulke, an engineering management major in the Michigan Technological University College of Business, is the number-one ranked Army ROTC cadet in the nation. As battalion commander of the 1st Arctic Warriors Battalion of the Michigan Tech Army ROTC, Cadet Lt. Col. Grulke credits the multidisciplinary nature of his major—business blended with engineering—and the guidance of his cadre for the opportunity. “The lessons I’m learning in the College of Business apply to every task at hand, even military tasks,” says the Waukesha, Wisconsin, native. 

Cadet Lt. Col. Caleb Grulke
Cadet Lt. Col. Caleb Grulke

This year, 3,762 ROTC cadets from 260 ROTC programs were selected to be assessed for active duty in the US Army. Grulke’s 4.0 GPA, superb performance at summer training, participation in extracurricular activities, and leadership ability were factors contributing to his ranking.

Maj. Daniel Gwosch, department chair and professor of military science for Michigan Tech ROTC, says the ranking is deserved. “Caleb is a gifted leader and the heart of our battalion,” says Gwosch. “His enthusiasm and drive are infectious and are why we experienced a 200 percent increase in first-year enrollment and a 300 percent increase in ROTC scholarship candidates committing to Tech this fall.”

“Caleb is a gifted leader and the heart of our battalion.”

Maj. Daniel Gwosch

Gwosch adds: “This is a great honor for him and something our whole program is excited about because it validates how hard the cadets work. It’s not easy to wake up in the early morning hours, but cadets like Caleb do it with a smile.”

The commanding general of Cadet Command will officially announce Grulke as the top cadet when the accessions process for the roughly 7,500 cadets in active duty, National Guard, and reserve officer status concludes in December.

Dean Johnson, dean of the Michigan Tech College of Business, is eager to see what comes next in Grulke’s future. “To rise to the top of an already highly selected group of individuals is an impressive accomplishment,” says Johnson. “He has accomplished so much already and more awaits him through his hard work and leadership.

We are very proud to have Caleb represent us!” 

Dean Johnson

Both the Army and Air Force have active ROTC programs on Michigan Tech’s campus. Since 1917, the Army Reserve Officer Training Corps has prepared Huskies to be US military officers. The in-college officer-commissioning program is a path toward a college education and a headstart to a military career related to a field of study. 

About the College of Business

The Michigan Tech College of Business offers undergraduate majors in accounting, construction management, economics, engineering management, finance, management, management information systems, and marketing, as well as a general business option. Graduate degrees include the TechMBA®, a Master of Engineering Management, a Master of Science in Accounting, and a Master of Science in Applied Natural Resource Economics.

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Innovators in Industry: Entrepreneurship, Startups, and Venture Capital

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This fall, Michigan Technological University launched Innovators in Industry: a project connecting current Huskies with Tech alumni who are industry experts, leaders, and influencers.

The initial three-part series concludes at 7 p.m. (Eastern) on Monday, November 8 with a session titled, “Entrepreneurship, Startups, and Venture Capital.”

Featured alumni for the session are Kanwal Rekhi ’69, managing director of Inventus Capital Partners, John Rockwell ’79, president, CEO, and director of Accelergy Corp., Chang Park ’73, president, CEO, and founder of Universal Remote Control, Inc., and Rebecca Ufkes ’87, president of Ufkes Holdings.

Dean Johnson, dean of the College of Business, will moderate the session, which will welcome virtual and in-person attendees. Featured alumni will make short presentations with time for Q&A from the audience.

Organized by the Office of Advancement and Alumni Engagement, Innovators in Industry aims to give students direct access to industry leaders to help shape their paths. Future plans for the program include on-location student visits to industry hubs.

All Michigan Tech students, faculty, and staff are invited to join on Zoom (no advance registration required).

Kanwal Rekhi

Kanwal Rekhi is the managing director of California-based firm Inventus Capital Partners. He earned an MS in Electrical Engineering from Michigan Tech in 1969 before achieving honorary doctor of engineering status from the University in 1997. During his undergraduate years, Rekhi studied electrical engineering at IIT-Bombay.

Kanwal Rekhi jumped from engineering to business startups in 1980 by co-founding Excelan, becoming the first Silicon Valley Indo-American founder and CEO to take a venture-backed company public on the NASDAQ in 1987.

Rekhi then became a high-profile Venture Angel while co-founding and leading The Indus Entrepreneurs into the largest global mentoring network for Indian entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley and around the world.

He co-invested in and founded Inventus in 2007 to institutionalize high-conviction, early-stage help to build category-defining companies. At Inventus, Rekhi has led the investments or been on the boards of Poshmark, StatX, Sierra Atlantic, Intellivision, GenWi, Espresso Logic, and has actively mentored the founders of redBus. 

He was also the first investor behind both Raju and BV as they founded and built their successful enterprises in the Bay Area.

Michigan Tech Awards, Achievements, and Involvement:

  • Melvin Calvin Award of Distinction 
  • Rekhi Innovation Challenge Founder
  • Distinguished Alumni Award 
  • Board of Control Silver Medal

“The first step is the hardest.”

Rekhi
John Rockwell

John Rockwell is the president, CEO, and director of Accelergy Corporation, producer of low-carbon synthetic transportation fuels, headquartered in Houston, Texas. After earning a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Michigan Tech in 1979, Rockwell was selected as a member of the US Junior National Hockey Team and the US Select Team that won the Spengler Cup. Rockwell went on to earn his MBA from the University of Minnesota in 1982.

It wasn’t until after he joined 3M’s business development wing that Rockwell discovered his talent for building companies and commercializing technology. He has spent a quarter-century funding, developing, and managing more than 20 companies across clean-tech sectors, including fuels, materials, supply chain, storage, solar, and smart-grid technologies.

Rockwell previously served as founder and managing director of Element Partners, an $800 million venture-capital and private-equity firm focused on “cleantech” investments. Prior to Element, he was a partner for nearly a decade at Advent International Corporation, now a $30 billion global private-equity firm.

Before Advent, Rockwell spent seven years at Materia Ventures Associates, investing in and managing early-stage companies focused on commercializing applications of advanced materials technologies. Before their successful mergers, he also served as CEO of Luxar Corporation, a manufacturer of CO2 lasers for the medical market, and as president of SSC, Inc., a manufacturer of high-performance ceramic-oxide materials used in superconductors, fuel cells, and catalysts. 

Michigan Tech Awards, Achievements, and Involvement:

  • Distinguished Alumni Award
  • College of Business Academy
  • College of Business External Advisory Board
  • Sports Hall of Fame

“I spend my time on the things that are important to me; family first, then business, then community.”

Rockwell
Chang Park

Chang Park is the president, CEO, and founder of Universal Remote Control, Inc., based in New York. Park came to the United States as a teenager with just $200 to his name. He earned bachelor’s degrees in electrical engineering and business administration from Michigan Tech in 1973 and a master’s in business administration from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania in 1979. 

In his first job after graduation, Park worked for an engineering consulting firm in Philadelphia, designing and reviewing mass-transit systems. He later joined J.P. Morgan, working in international finance.

Guided by his entrepreneurial spirit, Park started a business in his sister’s garage that provided jobs for impoverished youth in Korea. He steadily expanded the organization, and has been developing and marketing remote controls and home-automation products for more than two decades.

He chairs the Chang K. Park Foundation, an organization that supports human rights, the elimination of poverty and hunger, the implementation of political reform, and economic justice. Park is also a member of the national governing board of Common Cause, a public-interest organization in Washington DC; the board at the Union Theological Seminary in New York; and Bread for the World.

Michigan Tech Awards, Achievements, and Involvement:

  • Electrical and Computer Engineering Academy
  • Commencement Speaker (2011)
  • Honorary Doctorate of Philosophy
  • CEDIA Lifetime Achievement Award
  • Society of Women Engineers

“We live in an extraordinary time that offers great opportunities.”

Park
Rebecca Ufkes

Rebecca Ufkes is the president of Ufkes Holdings. Ufkes earned a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Michigan Tech in 1987 and her MBA from The Citadel in 1994. Currently residing in Sullivans Island, South Carolina, Ufkes co-founded UEC Electronics with her husband in 1995. The company began with five other employees in a warehouse. As engineers with abilities to improve design and processes, the team quickly increased their client base while applying principles of efficiency and innovation to their strategic management and growth.

By 2001, UEC’s work was being well-rooted in the commercial/industrial sector, and the partners set their sights on opportunities within the Department of Defense. Through their diligence and vision, UEC won a lucrative client providing the US Marines with a portable power system called GREENS (Ground Renewable Expeditionary Network System), which gave troops operational-power generation without the vulnerabilities of diesel dependability.

Ufkes and UEC were recognized by Inc. Magazine as being the fastest-growing manufacturer in South Carolina. She was awarded as “Champion of Change” by President Obama’s administration for creating jobs while saving resources.

Michigan Tech Awards, Achievements, and Involvement:

  • Presidential Council of Alumnae
  • Society of Women Engineers
  • Alpha Delta Alpha

About the College of Business

The Michigan Tech College of Business offers undergraduate majors in accounting, construction management, economics, engineering management, finance, management, management information systems, and marketing, as well as a general business option. Graduate degrees include the TechMBA®, a Master of Engineering Management, a Master of Science in Accounting, and a Master of Science in Applied Natural Resource Economics.

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